Ben & MDS, I too find going to movies a chore anymore. I can look at the ads in the paper and see absolutely nothing I want to get off my ass to go see.
Part of it is that I discovered and grew up watching movies on TV under less than ideal conditions (small screens, commercials, snowstorms of static)so I'm perfectly content to view them in this format, particularly with the advent of video and DVD. I've always been intriqued by the story more than the production values (probably why I never had any desire to be a director...If you're noticing the jazzy camera angle, somebody's not doing his job right because he's taking you out of the story).
The other reason, of course, is the increasing rudeness and bad behaviour of the movie audiences over the years. As I get older and more crotchedy, I have far less patience for it.
My wife and I only attend WGA society screenings where there is no food or talking allowed. And, around this time of the year, we get in free to all the major films being nominated on my card. We go to theatres like the Arclight or screening rooms, where unruly behaviour is at a minimum, and catch up on everything worthwile we missed over the year. I really enjoyed getting the DVD screeners last year and am mightily ticked we'll not be getting them this year. It was so convenient.
But beyond all that, I just don't really find most films that come out worth watching anymore. I have all the Showtime and HBO channels and almost never watch them. I rarely rent anything from the video store. My TV is pretty much almost always on TCM or the Fox Movie Channel or the Westerns Channel. Watching To Kill A Mockingbird this past weekend reminded me how truly great black and white is!
As to the acting question, my beginnings as an actor can be found in my Unseemly Interview in the Unseemly Interview Archive. I never officially retired from acting, I just started making too much money writing movies. I keep intending to get back to it one of these days, but, of course, twenty years have past since I've trod the boards. And board-trodding is the only acting I do, I'm definitely a stage actor...not a movie actor. The stage is the most exciting form of drama for me and the one where the actor has the most control over his fate. It's great to get out and adjust to a new audience and situation every night while still staying on course with your fellows actors, the direction you've been given, and the framework of the whole. Keeping it consistent, but keeping it fresh and exciting. It is also the most intimate form of drama for both performers and audience. The best theatre is always better than the best movie.
